Rock Island High School - Watchtower Yearbook (Rock Island, IL)

Page 22 text:

Big Bucks And Whammy “Big bucks” were an important influ¬ ence in the lives of Rocky students this year. Financial needs lead many stu¬ dents to seek jobs to pay for weekend activities, clothes, cars and other mate¬ rial needs. Quite a few students spent a good portion of their time filling out employ¬ ment applications. Hours could be spent at this task and often the effort was quite worthwhile. Many students got the jobs they worked so hard to find but others had to scrimp and forgo the extras as the local employment market still wasn’t very good. When a job was finally attained the horizon may have looked quite bright but it also had its bleak moments. Many jobs involved critical weekend working hours on the very days teen¬ agers so eagerly awaited for their fun and good times. Having to spend the weekend at work could put a serious crimp in a students social life and made the weekend just a boring extension of the week. Other jobs required working school nights. Then students found that many of their precious sleeping hours had to be given up for homework and impor¬ tant assignments that were forgotten or put off until the last minute. On the other hand students may have found themselves with many things that weren’t possible before. They were able to afford those over priced jeans they eyed for so long. They might have been able to save some of their hard earned money to put themselves in the drivers seat of a new car. Or maybe they just spent the money on a date they couldn’t afford before they started get¬ ting paychecks. No matter how hard or long they worked and how careful they were with the money it seemed like “whammy” and it all disappeared as soon as the check was cashed. The sav¬ ings accounts just didn’t grow as fast as they thought or planned. The Rocky work force was made up of everything from box boys to pharma¬ ceutical assistants. Most students were quite content to be employed. They found themselves with extra money, work experience for the future and a lot less television watching time, a sure plus in everyone’s eyes. Jason Bajor digs into his pocket hoping to find some more of the green stuff. Jessie Jackson looks for the perfect pair of ear¬ rings to spend her hard earned money on. 18 Earning Money

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The Choices Were Made Our final year is upon us! Hundreds of people will fill the stands. The stadi¬ um will be flooded with friends and rel¬ atives watching the 1986 graduating class of Rock Island High School. Thirteen years ago, we began our stu¬ dious journey to this grand event. We have grown up, met new people and have learned about ourselves. Our friends will go away to college, the armed forces or straight into the work¬ ing world. Being seniors, we have to make the choices that will affect our lives forever. The memories of Rocky are deeply im- Stephanie Hillyer proudly displayed her unique orchid arrangement for the Junior-Senior Prom. bedded in our minds — we’re as solid as a Rock! But this isn’t the only memory we will carry, Prom is another big event that took place in May. “Smile pretty!” was the basic demand of parents who just had to take pictures of their son or daughter in their fancy clothes. Then they rushed to meet res¬ ervations at an elegant restaurant and then off to the dance on the riverboat. The Queen of Hearts. The tuxedos have been returned, but the prom dresses still hang in the clos¬ ets to take up space and serve as an¬ other reminder of that starry night floating down the river. The punch bowl is always a popular place at Prom. Kristen Kessler and Trevor Collie took advantage of a break in the dancing to get a re¬ freshing drink. Tom Snyder gave a questioning look when he couldn ' t find his date for a favorite dance num¬ ber. Student Life 17

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At Ponderosa, Tom McNamara works hard to earn his spending money. Running the cash register is just one of Amber Norin’s duties at York Steak House. Spending Money 19